Effectively, Ericsson is to handle all aspects of Landline, Internet and Mobile, Mobile TV from Tower to CPE (Customer Premesis Equiptment) at the customer’s home. This deal in not dissimilar in nature to the one struck by CLARO in 2009 for Huawei to control Maintenance of their Cell Sites and JNAP (Jamaica Network Access Point) to do Generator Maintenance. Just more extensive and with more things to maintain! More interestingly, this means that both Telecom Provider LIME and Digicel have the same Mobile Maintenance Contractor.
The layoffs also involved some 305 persons in a bid to cut Telecom Provider LIME ’s operating costs of some J$10 billion annually on its operations, J$4 billion or 40% of which is staff salaries and emoluments. And apparently, by Thursday May 30 th 2013, all employees laid off in the restructuring exercise will be re-employed with Ericsson, according to Managing Director of LIME Jamaica, Garfield Sinclair in the article “ Displaced LIME workers will be offered jobs at Ericsson – Sinclair ”, published 7:24 am, Thu April 4, 2013, RJR News .
Most likely Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel will have to share one of the cheaper licenses as recent changes in the Telecoms Act indicate they’ll have to share Tower infrastructure instead of building new Towers. At 700MHz, neither Telecom Provider Digicel or LIME have any need to build new towers, as the frequency guarantees good propagation over greater distances with less power.
However, as it’s two (2) licenses split up from the three (3) block of 700MHz spectrum and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining being very keen on competition to achieve 90% coverage and hopefully the same level of Internet access in five (5) years time, a Shared 4G LTE Network is no longer a possibility, it’s an inevitability. Especially as the CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) for build-out and the eventual pricing of the 100MBps 4G LTE Tiered Services (for lower speeds) will be high, oweing to the need to have all towers interconnected via Fiber Optic Backhaul.
The other Spectrum license of the pair is most likely being reserved for a still unknown Third Telecom Provider. Which leads to another possible scenario: both Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel may find their own dancing partners aside from each other. This may be one of the local Telecom Providers such as Triple Play Provider FLOW (excellent choice as they have expertise in Fiber Optic Cable laying) or Dekal Wireless, who have a great deal of expertise in running a Municipal Wi-Fi Network, which may consider to be a possible Last Mile solution.
Or it may be with a FDI (Foreign Direct Investor), such as Telecom Provider T-Mobile, Vodafone or even Verizon from the US of A. One thing I’ve learned is that in the Telecoms world, Everything is Possible.
An example of this kind of teaming-up can be seen from the Tag team of Denis O’Brien owned Digicel Group with Digicel Billionaire investor George Soro's Quantum Strategic Partners Limited and Billionaire investor Serge Pun’s YSH Finance Limited, a member of the Yoma Strategic Holdings Group to bid for the Myanmar Telecom License as reported in “ Digicel partners with Soros, Pun on Myanmar telecoms bid ”, published Sunday April 7, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner. So you see, this is VERY possible here in Jamaica.
All these consolidations and the recent PR push indicates, rather vaguely but inevitably, that The Lone Rangers (2013) in the Telecoms Field may have no choice but to possibly teaming up with each other or with other FDI’s for a rapid LTE infrastructure upgrade over the next five (5) years. http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogs...to_20.html